FINANCIALS: SThree posts profit rise, but UK down
SThree has seen gross profit increase 13% year-on-year, according to a trading update for the quarter to 31 August 2018.
The update, released by the international specialist STEM staffing business this morning, reveals group GP increased to £82.7m in Q3 2018, from £73.7m in the corresponding quarter last year.
GP increased year-on-year across the group’s regions of operation, with the exception of UK & Ireland. GP was up 24%, 16% and 8% in Continental Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and the US respectively but down 10% in the UK.
All but one of the group’s industry sectors saw GP increase led by energy and ‘other’ disciplines – up 32% and 33% respectively. Banking and finance saw GP fall 7% year-on-year.
Commenting on the group’s performance CEO Gary Elden pointed to another strong quarter, which continued the momentum of Q2: “The group is benefiting both from the broad geographic reach of its operations, with 84% of GP now generated in international markets, and from its focus on the best STEM markets.
“Continental Europe, our largest region, continued to grow strongly, with both DACH [Germany, Austria and Switzerland] and Benelux delivering record performances, and the US posted a solid result against strong prior year comparatives. We are investing in growing our highest performing teams and remain on track with the delivery of our five-year growth strategy.
“Looking ahead, trading conditions in the majority of our markets are encouraging and we enter Q4, our most significant trading quarter, with confidence in our full-year prospects.”
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